Contracts

Since I wrote this late last night, I'll start this post off as a reminder to first read my initial take on what Fletcher Cox's extension means for Von Miller.  This morning, I also want to focus on something that Mike Klis published this morning regarding his own thoughts on how Cox's deal affect's Miller's.Read more...

Adam Schefter got the news kicked off on reporting Fletcher Cox's extension: six years, $103 million, $63 million guaranteed.  Mike Florio then followed up by giving out details of the deal.  Cox's contract table has already been updated on Over The Cap. This deal comes off the heels of Florio posting an opinion on the Von Miller negotiations, one that raised some eyebrows from Jason Fitzgerald, among others.  In reporting the details of Cox's contract, Florio also crows a bit on that opinion piece, stating the following:

As noted earlier, this deal will make Broncos linebacker Von Miller very happy, giving him an apples-to-apples comparison that the Broncos will have a hard time characterizing as an anomaly or an aberration.

How does this opinion delivered by Florio stack up?  Let's take a closer look. Read more...

On Monday, at a joyous occasion at the White House, Von Miller said cheery things while standing next to Gary Kubiak:

We’ve made real progress over the last couple of days. I’m very optimistic about the whole thing.

On Wednesday, Miller and the Broncos traded some barbs privately via the media:

"Contract talks with Von Miller reach impasse after Broncos deadline passes without deal" --Mike Klis "Not to say it can't get done, but it will be very difficult for Denver and Von Miller to reach long-term agreement by July 15 deadline." --Adam Schefter

I hope you didn't too optimistic on Monday, and I hope you didn't get too pessimistic on Wednesday.  This is just another step in the long progress of extending one of the NFL's best players.Read more...

The server issues delayed this brief update, so I'll go ahead and squeeze this brief article out now.  Tuesday was the last day that signed UFAs could become CFAs, so we now know the maximum number of players relevant to the Broncos that could qualify for the 2017 compensatory formula.Read more...

John Elway often says he wants “to win from now on”.  It’s an objective that he is excelling at, and in order to do so, it involves thinking many steps ahead.  So although the 2016 season isn’t even in the books yet, it’s important to keep tabs on a few things for 2017, even with the understanding that what happens in 2016 has the potential to change plans.Read more...

With the draft now over, the Broncos front office, like most of the NFL, will likely be eager to take a bit of a vacation as they approach the dead part of the NFL offseason. However, whenever they get back to work the next task on the plate will be possible extensions of veterans, and none loom bigger over the Broncos than Von Miller.  So with all that's changed since I last addressed the subject, I thought I'd dump some thoughts on where this negotiation stands now.Read more...

On April 4, I analyzed what I believed to be the Broncos' needs as the NFL offseason departed from free agency and arrived toward the draft. As the draft has now concluded today, I'm happy to say that all of what I identified as "present needs" have been met.  I'll break down how those needs were met, and include a few general thoughts on the players the Broncos selected.Read more...

The always excellent Andrew Mason tweeted this out after the Broncos drafted Paxton Lynch: https://twitter.com/MaseDenver/status/725889545032462336 While this may be eye-opening to many of Mason's Twitter followers, this is a point that we here have known as obvious for quite some time.  What wasn't obvious, however, was whether Lynch would even be obtainable.  Well, he was, so let's break down the financials a bit. Read more...

Just when it looked like the Colin Kaepernick rumors had died down, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle fired them up again by reporting that Kaepernick had visited with John Elway last Thursday.  Given that the report includes that the 49ers have given Kaepernick permission to seek a trade, it certainly doesn't hurt for Elway to open up some dialogue.  However, as I see it there are still several obstacles to be able to make this trade work, so I thought it might be useful to run through what's in the way of making this trade happen.Read more...

The conclusion of March and the beginning of April also coincides well with when less attention is paid toward free agency and more attention is paid toward the draft.  I'll have some thoughts on what steps to consider for the latter likely next week, but for the former I figured that since my 17-point 2016 offseason plan back from February was largely focused on free agency, it would be a good time to review it, to see what I got right and wrong, and what the Broncos may have done right or wrong.Read more...